National Gallery of Zimbabwe
Introduction
The National Gallery of Zimbabwe is a parastatal with the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Arts and Recreation, established by an Act of Parliament Chapter 25:09.
The gallery is supported by the Foundation of the Friends of the National Gallery in Bulawayo, a registered non-governmental organisation.
The gallery strives to be the prime and global centre for the preservation, promotion, and critical interrogation of Zimbabwe’s Visual Heritage and contemporary art, both locally and internationally.
As such, the National Gallery in Bulawayo is a unique facility that holds invigorating and challenging exhibitions. Resting upon the architectural splendour of the Douslin house building, which has clocked 125 years, the institution has eased its way towards achieving the goal of aesthetic appreciation community-wide.
As custodians of a growing Zimbabwean heritage, we are tasked with the creative and intellectual discipline to select, nurture, and commend outstanding works of visual art, to select and display pivotal works, to generate and improve upon existing talent, to train and develop artistic skills, to educate, to empower, to mediate, and mostly to celebrate.
Freed from some of the influences and concerns, that dominate other provinces in Zimbabwe, the unique thrust of the National Gallery in Bulawayo is its desire to dissolve barriers between art and its audience, to establish a consistent dialogue and intimacy.
The personality of this gallery is embodied in its transparent windows in the Lower Gallery, which allow passers-by to view current exhibitions while going on about their daily business. The warm wooden frames, doors and floors, the fireplaces remaining in the smaller galleries upstairs, the laced balconies overlooking the cityscape, the enclosed courtyard and the sculpture garden, each develop an atmosphere of sharing and closeness.
History of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe
The Douslin House has been the home of the National Gallery in Bulawayo, a building formerly referred to as the Willoughby’s Building from 1901 to 1956 and renamed the Asbestos House from 1957 up to 1979.
The dawn of the new name “Douslin House” was the set off in the year 1980.
How to Exhibit at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe
If you are interested in exhibiting your art at the gallery, there are some important steps that you need to take.
Firstly, you will need to write a proposal that specifies whether you want to do a solo or group exhibition. Your proposal should also include the topic you want to tackle, the types of work you will be exhibiting and the dates and duration of the show.
Additionally, you should indicate whether your art pieces will be hung on walls or pedestals, and if you have any installations.
It is also important to mention the number of art pieces you have, and if you have a budget for the exhibition or any funding from other organisations.
Studios
For those who are interested in becoming a resident artist at the gallery, you will need to fill out an online application form that is available on the gallery website www.nationalgallerybyo.com.
Services
The National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo offers a number of services along the vein of stirring public interest generally in the fine and applied arts.
Sales Shop
The Sabona Sales Shop offers a range of unique Zimbabwean art and crafts by local artists and craft people, including work from as far afield as the Democratic Republic of Congo.
From Sculpture, painting, decorated wooden pens, exquisite postcards, skillfully created balancing birds, adorned Tonga Drums, to lovely Ndebele baskets.
The space is inside the gallery and has beautiful floors designed by Voti Thebe, and created in fine artistic metal furniture by a local artist Danisile Ncube. The doors of the shop are therefore open from Monday to Saturday, 0900hrs to 1700hrs.
The Hideout Cafe
The Hideout Cafe rests before the face of the gallery central court yard, which has become one of Bulawayo’s leading coffee shops.
It is a tranquil setting offering a unique experience with quality food and exceptional service. The Hideout is an ideal spot for individuals, friends, professionals and families. It is the place for the best coffee, tea, milkshakes, pastries, cake and light meals in an intimate family style.
The café serves the best burgers in town, such as the legendary Mqabuko Triple Decker, Mushroom Melt Burger and the café’s flagship Bacon-Wrapped Burger.
The Café boasts an incredible range of milkshakes, with 8 flavours to choose from. The Queen Nandi pancake delight, a favourite for both kids and adults is a speciality for the Hideout café.
Visual Art lessons
As there are as many opinions about “must-have” skills for art students as there are art instructors, the National Gallery in Bulawayo has established art lessons for aspiring artists that take place every Friday and Saturday with a provision of a certificate after completing an expected coverage of 12 lessons.
As one of the key mandates of the education and public programming department dwells on fostering art appreciation in local institutions, equipping art teachers and students with skills that are relevant to the art schools’ curriculum needs, the lessons focus on developing fine outcomes by nurturing drawing and painting abilities.
This is the Gallery’s way of programming relevant activities by responding to the needs of the community, whilst charging $3 per lesson for primary school students and $5 per lesson for high school ages.
Studio Spaces
A walk across the courtyard leads to artists’ studios, walls, red-bricked, quite vintage and inviting.
The National Gallery of Zimbabwe presents an opportunity for working space and time for guest artists and independent curators to develop work, discover new concepts as well as develop their professional practice. The ground floor houses several studios and a spiral staircase leads to more studios upstairs where more resident artists also find their way into the studios through the outreach programme run by the Gallery, they mix and mingle.
The programme favours exposure for the young and talented. Patrons and art lovers have a rare opportunity to watch the artists bring out the inner child on the blank canvas. The artist can explain how each art piece came about. Interestingly each studio is filled with individual work, style and technique.
One would most probably be smiling with satisfaction from studio to studio, it’s truly memorable.
Reference Library
A unique information centre situated within the National Gallery in Bulawayo which is flourishing with a vast variety of reading material on art, making it the only special library of its kind in the region, offering art lovers a rare but worthwhile opportunity to explore, read, prosper and soar high into greater and unimaginable heights in their chosen profession or pass time.
The Beit Trust reference library offers a wealth of knowledge covering the history of art, artists’ biographies through the ages, painting, photography, textile batik, tapestry, interior decorations, architecture and African art.
The library strives to maintain the best possible information service to its clients and hosts a lot of students, and teachers from institutions around us as well as enthusiasts. The library is open from Tuesday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm.
Permanent Collection
As a further key function of the gallery extends to preserving works of art which are acquired by or lent to it, or otherwise in its custody, the National Gallery of Zimbabwe prides itself in the range and diversity of ethnographic collections under its custodianship and these include ceremonial functions which date back to the 1900s.
It also has a magnificent collection of stone, wood and clay sculptures as well as paintings which bear testimony to the rich cultural beliefs of Zimbabwe and Africa at large. Most importantly, the collections reveal a striking aspect of our cultural history and development since the time of human habitation on the Zimbabwe plateau.
Interestingly they corroborate the existence of a highly developed Zimbabwean material culture which demonstrates ingenuity and originality as well as a sophisticated understanding of the natural environment.
The gallery boasts of a wide range of basketry collections. This collection represents the major craft industries of the country, which date from pre-colonial times to independent Zimbabwe. Basketry provides “an outlet for the artistic aspirations of the makers and aesthetic fulfilment for the users”, Locke, 1994:14. archaeological sites in Zimbabwe.
The Gallery has also documented much of Tonga’s cultural history through its wide collection of Tonga stools, doors, weaponry, as well as clay pots. These have been collected to encourage extramural use of collections for the enjoyment of our audience.
Interestingly, the gallery has documented the unique and greatly revered Tonga fishing and hunting prowess. Further, of much interest to our audience has been the wide collection of paintings done on various media like parchment, wood, canvas as well as cloth which therefore contribute to almost half of our collections
Exhibitions at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe
As one of the key main functions of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe focuses on encouraging public interest in the fine and applied arts, the core of the services has revolved around planning and setting up exhibitions.
As the guardians of an expanding Zimbabwean heritage, the gallery’s responsibilities include the selection, nurturing, and recognition of exceptional works of visual and African Modern Art.
The Bulawayo Gallery is unique in its aim to erase boundaries between art and its audience, hence the usual dialogue forums known as Bulawayo Conversations after every exhibition so as to engage the public with the aim of establishing closeness and shared insights.
Membership
The gallery provides room for public individuals to secure their yearly memberships and enjoy the vast benefits that come therein.
Via the membership, the audience can then gain access to the library, obtain exhibition invites, and connect to the gallery internet via personal gadgets or library workstations among other bright offers.
Becoming A Member
The gallery also offers membership opportunities for those who want to support the gallery and gain some benefits.
There are five categories of membership available, namely student membership, general individual membership, general family membership, colleges/schools membership, and company membership. Each category has different benefits such as free Wi-Fi access, discounts on space hire, and more.
You can request a membership form through the gallery’s social media accounts or pick one up at the gallery reception. Joining as a friend of the gallery is open to everyone and membership is valid for 12 months from January to December.
Where We Are:
Address/Contact details of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe
75 J.M.N. Nkomo Street/ L. Takawira Avenue,
P.O Box 1993 Bulawayo.
Tel No: +263-292 70721
Opening Hours
Tuesday to Saturday: 9 am to 5 pm.
Entrance Fee
Adults:
Local – US$2
Non-Resident – US$10
Children:
Local – US$1
Non-Resident – US$5
Organised Groups – US$1
